When Greenfield Online Inc. (NYSE: SRVY) went public in 2004, the shares spiked, hitting $24. But, as time went by, the company had troubles meeting Wall Street's expectations and the stock price eventually fell to $4.50 (in late 2005).

It was rough, but Greenfield was able to restructure things, and the stock price has tripled since 2005.

Despite this, it hasn't been enough for the folks at Greenfield and today the company announced it is going private in a $426 million transaction (or $15.50 per share). The private equity sponsor is Quadrangle Group LLC, which specializes in media and communications.

Greenfield has a nice business. It provides consumer research and uses dot-com approaches (such as comparison shopping engines). The company also has been effective in moving into foreign markets.

In Q1, revenues increased 13% to $30.9 million but there was loss of $113,000 or $0.01 per share, which included various charges, such as for a class action settlement.

So far in today's trading, Greenfield's shares are up 14% to $15.23.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

Advertisers realize that there is no source like the internet for seeking current consumer opinions. A leader in the art of eliciting those views and organizing them into actionable form is headquartered in Wilton, Connecticut.

Greenfield Online (NASDAQ: SRVY) provides internet survey research services that measure consumer interest in new products, test new advertising campaigns and track brand awareness. It gathers demographic data from panels of North American, Latin American, European and Asian survey participants and comparison shoppers and then integrates their views about broad arrays of consumer products and services. The firm's client list includes Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY).

Greenfield Online pleased investors earlier in the month, when it reported Q3 EPS of 12 cents and revenues of $32.2 million. Analysts had been expecting ten cents and $30.1 million. Management also guided FY07 revenues to $124-$126 million, versus consensus of $123.32 million. Needham subsequently upgraded the stock to "strong buy" and declared a $20 price target. The shares popped on the news and then began consolidating the gain in a bullish "pennant" pattern. Prices frequently exit pennants moving in the same direction they were traveling on entry. In this case, that would be to the upside.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: National Grid, Shire Plc, On Semiconductor and Enbridge were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Deutsche Bank upgraded shares of National Grid (NYSE: NGG) to Buy from Hold as they believe the Keyspan deal will be positive for shareholders.
• Goldman upgraded shares of Shire Plc (NASDAQ: SHPGY) to Buy from Neutral and added the stock to their Conviction Buy List on valuation and expected gains in the ADHD market.
  
• On Semiconductor (NASDAQ: ONNN) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wachovia on valuation.
  
• Enbridge Inc (NYSE: ENB) was raised to Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer at CIBC World Markets, as the firm sees an attractive 3-year return potential as new projects come into service and expects the stock's relative underperformance to come to an end.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Visteon Corporation (NYSE: VC) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs.
  
• RSC Holdings (NYSE: RRR) and Greenfield Online Inc (NASDAQ: SRVY) were upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Lehman Brothers.
  
• Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.
  
• Stifel upgraded Health Care REITs, including Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE: HR), LTC Properties Inc (NYSE: LTC) and Ventas Inc (NYSE: VTR), to Buy from Hold.